Doug said: BSG’s qøl processing is not available from any other component in your system. If you upgrade from a $1000 amp to a $20,000 amp, you still won’t get the expanded and enhanced sound you get from the qøl. If you want this sound, there’s only one place to get it, and that’s from the qøl Signal Completion Stage.

Colin said: The NAD Viso 1 is an astonishing sound machine, and an epic achievement for its product category: It offers a purity of sound that no reasonable person could have expected from an iPod dock. Its digital innards, born in a $6000 technical marvel, perform amazingly well in this $600 version, and, mated to PSB’s overachieving drivers, offer tight, almost unreasonably deep bass, sparkling but never overblown highs, and a clarity that must be heard to be appreciated.

Rad said: It’s extremely portable, and its build quality is solid. At moderate volume levels, it offers clean and appealing midrange sound, and bright yet unbrittle highs. If you’re looking to bypass and replace the anemic sound you get from an iPod or iPhone, or perhaps a laptop, you’ll get much better sound with a Cube.

Rad said: The Zoom H1’s big plus is its compact size; it’s a point-and-click camera for sound. You probably won’t carry one around all the time, and you’ll want a more expensive device if you’re making a disc of demo tracks -- but if you want a reliable recorder to give you very satisfactory amateur recordings, the H1 is well worth consideration.